


Children of the Empire

by UncommonVillian



Series: The Avenger [2]
Category: Ed Edd n Eddy, Naruto, Overwatch (Video Game), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series, Star Wars - All Media Types, Team Fortress 2
Genre: Aged up Olivia and Jack, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Dark Jedi Pitch, F/M, Mandalorian Sakura, Sith Olivia, Smuggler Eds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-08-25 17:25:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16665049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UncommonVillian/pseuds/UncommonVillian
Summary: Three years after the events of The Avenger, the Empire have returned to seek revenge on the galaxy. To help tie up loose ends, The Dark Brotherhood of Nine send their most dangerous assassin out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello,
> 
> I just wanna start off by saying that this story is a continuation of my The Avenger that was originally the plot to a GMod comic I was making on DeviantArt, but I stopped because it was taking too much time to make in GMod and time hasn't been kind to me lately. But I've always had the desire to continue the story because I was having way too much fun with it so I decided to write it down instead. I hope y'all enjoy reading it as I do writing it. Peace out.

Mobius.

Once rich with lush green forest and the bluest of oceans in the entire galaxy, now a global industrial city. Once the Empire came with Dr. Robotnik at the lead of the invasion of the planet, the Dark Brotherhood of Nine allowed him to claim the planet for himself, turning it into a vast refinery and droid building facility. The largest in the history of the galaxy.

With Robotnik was one of the Empire's most recognized and respected agents, a young man simply known as Jack. Once a boy from a small moon ransacked by bandits, Jack was trained in the Imperial Ranks and rose to the highest rank at a young age. When the coop against Mobius was order, Jack was assigned to Robotnik and was ordered to stay with Robotnik until further notice, much to his dismay. Jack never really did care for the mad doctor, but now in his time came to hate him. Robotnik never acknowledged Jack for his talents but instead looked to him as his underling. In their time on Mobius in these past three months, the two grew more animus towards each other. If it wasn't the fact that Jack had a very powerful friend in high places, Robotnik would have done away with him.

Jack was out in the city, observing the success of the droid foundries and looking to the sky towards the large armada of Star Destroyers hovering above when he got a call over his comlink, "Jack, I need you back at the tower."

It was Robotnik. Knowing that if he didn't comply right away that Robotnik would constantly pester him, Jack turned towards his Bloodfin speeder bike and took off for the towering citadel looming overhead. He arrived but the trek up through the tower was the most time consuming. Only reaching up to the seventieth level, the elevator was restricted to reach the upper levels so Jack had to use his bypass code to access the walkway up to Robotnik's level. After several minutes of scaling the inclining walkway, Jack reach the highest level of the tower, where Dr. Robotnik was waiting for him.

"What kept you?" Robotnik sneered in malcontent.

"Apologizes Dr. Robotnik, but it is a big city." Jack replied, equal amount of hostility in his voice. "It wouldn't be so bad if the tower didn't take longer to climb."

"Spare me, Jack. This is my tower, after all." Robotnik's tone lightened and he smiled as he turned to walk up the walkway. He said to Jack, "Come, my friend. I have good news." entering the observation area of the upper echelon, Robotnik began to tell Jack of the "good news", "It's been three years since the failed incursion of the Mandalorian moon of Concordia, but the Empire is still feeling the sting of embarrassment of not being able to capture Sasuke Uchiha. After many setbacks, the Dark Brotherhood of Nine have begun to punish those responsible for the failure of the invasion About time, if you ask me."

"And what does this mean to us, Dr. Robotnik?" Jack asked.

"It means our time of this rock is at a much awaited end, Jack." Robotnik responded, looking over the cityscape. "My top rival, your girlfriend's father, Grey Mann is one of those being punished. Both him and I are to be summoned by Lord Tirashias himself on Ord Mantell. It would appear that my talents are finally being recognized by the Empire, at long last."

With a smile on his face, Jack replied, "Of course, doctor. I mean if they were really anything to go by, the Dark Brotherhood of Nine would have called upon you years ago."

"Mind that tone of yours, Jack." Robotnik threatened. Smiling and holding his fist up, Robotnik proudly proclaimed, "This will be a day long remembered. After I see that crushed look on Mann's face, I will solidify my name in the history of the Empire. I will build a grand army that none will ever witness again. By this time next year, glory will be right in the palm of my hand. It will be beautiful, my friend."

"Listen to yourself, Robotnik." Jack replied to Robotnik's monologue, astounded by his massive ego. "You talk as though Lord Karis had handed you the keys to his entire military. You may have been picked to be Mann's successor, but that doesn't give you bragging rights. You will still answer to the Brothers."

"Gah, hold your tongue, boy!" Robotnik growled as his shoved his finger into Jack's face. "Don't forget who Lord Stotas has had you answer to!"

"And don't forget who you answer to, doctor." A young woman's voice echoed through the observation area. Both Jack and Robotnik turned to see a teenage girl in Sith robes standing in the corner. Her black hair was messily stood up in the front and draped over her face. Her eyes were fiery like all those tuned to the Dark Side. Those eyes glared are Robotnik as she told him, "Jack's right. You shouldn't be bragging about anything until Lord Tirashias finalizes the deal."

"O-Oh, Miss Olivia! I wasn't aware you were here." Robotnik stuttered in fear, revealing the young woman to be Lord Tirashias' most faithful and powerful student, Olivia Mann. If there was a name outside the Brothers to fear in the Empire, it was Olivia Mann.

"And don't think that because I hand picked you myself to take over my pathetic 'father's' place in the industry that I will show you any leniency." Oliva warned as she walked over towards the two. "You will be rewarded accordingly for your successes and will be harshly punished for failure, any failure."

"U-Understood, Miss Olivia." Robotnik gulped as he looked down at the young Sith as she stood before him.

"And I am personally removing Jack from your service." Olivia said with a glare. "Lord Stotas may have placed him with you, but Jack's not some fodder for you to push around like your parasite nephew. He is still an important asset to the Empire. Am I clear on the matter, Dr. Robotnik?"

"Crystal, ma'am." Robotnik said, not even noticing the mocking smile Jack was giving him.

Looking over at him, Olivia said to Jack, "My Star Destoryer is ready for departure. We shall leave as soon as you're ready, Jack."

"No time like the present." Jack replied.

* * *

Onboard the Star Destroyer leaving Mobius, Olivia sat on her bed looking out to the stars outside. She never found any "awe" or "sense of meaning" when looking out to them, just often wondered how she could conquer them. Her thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock at her door and told whoever it was to come in. The door opened and he asked her, "Hey, mind if I drop by?"

"Of course. You don't need to ask." Olivia's tone had dropped significantly since leaving Mobius and her eyes went from fiery to just her usual orange. This change in demeanor was due to the fact that the two teenagers were strongly bonded, deeply in love. The only person that Olivia showed any mercy or kindness towards was Jack.

Jack sat down next to her, smiling and saying, "I just want to say thanks for backing me up with Robotnik back there, Liv."

"It was no problem. You know I've always got your back, Jackie."

"I can't stand that lardass tub of bantha fodder." Jack said in annoyance. "When I was assigned to him, all he ever did was go on and on about how he should have been building the droid army for the Empire. For three month, I just listened to him complain, complain, complain."

"Well it's over now. My master gave me permission to take you off Mobius, far away from Robotnik. Now you can relax." Smiling brightly, Olivia told Jack, "You're assigned to me now and I've been given some time to relax."

"That's great! We can finally have some time together after all these months!" Jack slowly crawled across the bed towards Olivia and softly caressed her cheek, telling her as they looked lovingly into each other's eyes, "I've missed you so much, Liv."

"Miss Olivia I-" the ship captain exclaimed as he barged into Olivia's room, the two teens looking up at him in surprise. He asked as he awkwardly looked down at them, "Am...Am I interrupting anything?"

"As a matter of fact, you are, captain!" Olivia spat in annoyance.

"Apologies Miss Olivia," the captain responded with urgency. "but Lord Tirashias demands that you make contact with him right away."


	2. Chapter 2

Olivia entered her personal communication room, connecting her to her master all the way to Dromund Kaas. As she knelt down on the communication pad and awaited the connection to Tirashias. His image appeared and she asked, "What is thy bidding, my master?"

"Apprentice, something has come up that must cut your relaxing time short." Tirashias told her. "Do you remember Orochimaru?"

"Of course. The coward who ruined the Mandalorian insurrection three years ago."

"We recently got word from one of our underworld contacts that someone suspected of smuggling traitors out of the Empire may have some information." Tirashias said with urgency. "Time is of the essence, Olivia. We have to move fast and I can't think of anyone more adequate than you. I must send you to look in on this."

Olivia bowed her head in disappointment. It wasn't the assignment that bother, she actually relished in it to kill a traitor to the Empire, but something else. Tirashias saw this and asked, "Is there a problem, apprentice?"

"Well master, I thought that Jack and I would have some time together." Olivia responded, bothered by the fact that she might not be able to see Jack after just reuniting.

"Am I to to understand that your dedication to Jack is more important than that of the Empire, my dear apprentice?" Tirashias asked, a hint of slyness in his voice that Olivia missed. She was about to protest, but her master told her, "Cease your concern, Olivia. I merely jest with you." Tirashias was known to be cruel, cold-blooded and heartless, he did have a sense of humor that only a small few ever saw. He told her, "Of course I did not forget my promise that you two would have some time together. Though Orochimaru was a low level Sith, he is still powerful. You are powerful as well, but he is unpredictable. This is a matter that I need both of you to deal with." Olivia gratefully bowed and thanked her master. He told her, "This traitor to the Empire must be silenced. He can not return nor should he be allowed to enter the Republic with what he knows. I trust no one more than you to handle this matter. You have been well trained, my young Olivia."

"It will be done, my master." Olivia venomously said as she bowed to her master. With that, the message ended.

* * *

In the docking bay, Jack was arguing with the ship's captain and corporal over the matter of housing his personal Lambda ship on the observation scaffolding. Jack purchased the ship and had it modified, but the damages to the ship made it an eye sour in the pristine Star Destroyer and the captain did not like that at all. He told Jack, "We've told you many time, Jack. This ship is Imperial property, not your personal docking bay. We need this bay for our shuttles and ship and your ship is holding up too much space."

"I have permission from Olivia to dock my ship here! She owns this ship, captain!" Jack argued.

"She may own the ship, but this ship is for Imperial purposes only." the captain responded. "She's breaking the rules of the Imperial Navy."

With the captain's bravado and his courage to stand up to Jack, all that washed away when Olivia leaped up from the the docking bay entry to the scaffolding, jumping down from the railing. Both him and the corporal were plastered with a look of terror.

"Problems, Jackie?" she asked walking up to the three men. Jack sarcastically replied that there weren't and she said, "Good, because I swore that I heard _**my**_ captain say that I'm breaking the rules of the Imperial Navy on _**my**_ own ship, which was given to me by _**my**_ master, Lord Tirashias of the Dark Brotherhood of Nine. Is _**my**_ captain insinuating that he's more qualified to run _**my**_ ship more than me?"

"Of course not, Miss Olivia." the captain replied, hiding his terror.

"Good, now to make my point clear." she said before reaching her hand up. Behind the captain, he heard the choking sounds of the corporal. In between his gasps, the corporal begged the captain for help as he was lifted off the ground and thrown from the scaffolding and landed on the docking bay floor with a loud thud. Olivia said to the captain, "Prep the ship for take off. And clean that mess up."

* * *

 

Drago 10, a small outlaw space station on the edge of the Empire was considered to be the "armpit of all the Imperial Territory". Here, smugglers, bounty hunters, detractors and defectors found a somewhat safe haven. Poor and forgotten by the Empire, this was the place to stay if one wanted to live off the grid or out of the war. Those who wish to defect to the Empire from the Republic found their way here, but many of them were either forced into the Imperial Army, shanghaied to mercenary groups, killed, or worst, sold to the Slaver's Syndicate. One of those under the employment of the Syndicate was a masked Graylian* named Skeeks Tol, and he was hiding in the lower levels of the station and terrified beyond belief.

As he hid behind the corner, he listened to the heavy footsteps approaching him. He caught a quick glimpse around the corner to see the masked bounty hunter, Dender Kerg, the most feared bounty hunter in all of the Empire, was slowly approaching his location. Skeeks ran, ran fast and far from his pursuer. He ran harder and harder and frantically ran up towards the upper levels, hoping that he lost Dender. However, upon exiting the service stairwell, he ran into someone.

"'Ello, Skeeks." Dender said, looking down at Skeeks.

"Dender! Nice to see you, old friend!" Skeeks greeted the bounty hunter nervously.

Dender grabbed Skeeks by his collar, held his fist to Skeeks head and said to him, "You got a bounty on ya, 'old friend'."

"Me? Who would put a bounty on old me?"

"How about the Empire?" a feminine voice said, approaching from the public staircase. Skeeks and Dender looked over to see Olivia walking up the stairs, lightsaber in hand. She said, "Hello, Skeeks."

"Olivia Mann! So nice to see you! You look lovely!" Skeeks greeted her, nervous and trying complement her. It didn't work since she activated her lightsaber and held it to his head.

"Spare me, Skeeks." she said, moving the blade closer to his face. She demanded, "Everyone knows you're the best at sneaking people in and out of the Empire. I **_know_** you know the location of someone I'm looking for. So tell me, where's Orochimaru?"

"Never heard of him." Skeeks quickly responded.

"You're lying!" Dender shouted in the Graylien's face, moving back quickly from the foul smell that Skeeks was giving off. The odor was so powerful that it seeped into the bounty hunter's mask.

"I swear! I never met someone who would pay me so poorly to smuggle him out!"

"So you do know him?" Olivia asked.

Skeeks looked at Olivia in fear. He didn't realize that his tongue had slipped and revealed his information. Admitting his guilt, he angrily said, "Alright, fine! Orochimaru, Sombra and McCree paid me to get off of Dromund Kaas! I got them as far as Tattooine, that's all I know!"

"I believe you, Skeeks. Let him go, Dender." Olivia said with a smile. Dender let Skeeks go and Skeeks told him he needed to learn some manners. After scolding the bounty hunter, Olivia jabbed her lightsaber blade into his head. Skeeks was dead before he hit the floor. Olivia perked up and gleefully said, "Thank you, Skeeks. You've been a big help."

She turned to Dender, her gleeful smile turned sinister, and said, "You have as well, Dender."

"Yeah, just make sure I get paid for this." Dender said, annoyance in his voice. "I just lost a good contact."

"Has the Empire ever steered you wrong?"

"Hm. What about him?" Dender asked about Skeeks dead body.

"The cleaning crew will be along shortly."

 --

Graylien-Team Fortress 2 Spy cosmetic


	3. Chapter 3

Robotnik was in his office onboard his massive ship, waiting for his guest. He finally acquired enough support from the Imperial Senate, but he always loved to have an ace in the hole and his guest was his ace. He was awaiting the dark lord known as Darth Grathan, or as some call him, "The Ghost of the Jungle". The Grathan name lived in infamy in the annals of Imperial history since hundred of thousands of years during the time of the Old Republic and the Grathan at the time was a radical and dangerous. It was believed that Grathan clan died out, but Lord Grathan arrived one day at the Citadel of Kaas City out of the jungles, from the long abandoned and decrepit compound of the Grathan clan of old, with records to show that the clan remained in hiding since their fall. After proving his worth, him and his wife, often called Lady Grathan, were given royal treatment. Grathan was often sent in with droves of soldiers to eradicate Republic forces, tearing through armies alone. He was considered to be as strong as Darth Tirashias to many, but is considered to be just another foot soldier in the eyes of the Dark Brotherhood of Nine. Due to his reputation of appearing seemingly out of nowhere and rising fast in the Imperial ranks, he was given his nickname. Robotnik knew if he had the same power on his side, he knew that no one would stand up to him.

Hearing the doors open, Robotnik turned and greeted his guest, "Ah, Lord Grathan! Welcome aboard my flagship!"

"Impressive, to say the least, Dr. Robotnik." Grathan replied. Grathan was a medium height man clothed in Imperial black leather armor with an armor mesh flightsuit complete with masked helmet. Through his garb, one could see Grathan was thin and fit. The Sith strolled through Robotnik's office, paying no attention to him and only looking up at Robotnik's monitor. Grathan asked, "You wanted to speak to me about Imperial support?"

"Yes, my lord." Robotnik eagerly replied. "I have many on the Imperial Senate that are willing to back me as Imperial droid manufacturer. The Republic would be more than willing to send someone to wipe me out. I think having one of the most powerful Sith Lords on my side would keep this from happening."

"I see." Grathan said before a pause, looking at the information on Robotnik's computer. It wasn't important, but Grathan was taking the time to process Robotnik's request. After a moment of thought, he finally spoke, "My answer is no."

"M-My Lord?" Robotnik was flabbergast.

Turning towards Robotnik, Grathan said, "First off, your ego has blinded you. You may be a well respected figure in the Empire now, but you're not entitled to summon key Imperial figures to your bidding. If you really are to be a target for the Republic, you can just build more powerful droids to be your guards. Secondly, I have many spies in the underworld that have been monitoring you and your associates. I don't have the proof yet, but I know you're doing dealings outside the Empire. I don't know what you're up to, but I can guarantee that I'll find out."

Robotnik just glared at him. Suffice it to say that Grathan pushed him, attacked his ego and accused of double dealing. Never once has anyone ever accused the doctor of such things and he had no idea how to respond aside from just standing in frustration.

Turning to walk towards the door, Grathan said, "Thank you for wasting my time. I'll find my way out."

As the Sith reached the door, Robotnik spoke, "You think you're untouchable? You think you're the only one who can find information on others? I also have my fair share of-"

Robotnik's speech stunted when he felt his throat tighten. His airway was being closed off by an invisible force and he reached up to his neck, gripping his upper chest in agony. When he lost more air, he collapsed on the floor.

"Don't play games with me, doctor." Grathan said, holding his cupped hand out. "One way or another, I always win."

Grathan relaxed his hand and Robotnik coughed, gasping for air. The door opened and Grathan took his leave.

* * *

At the Gall spaceport, a tall, slender and bald man in a black and green Imperial uniform was walking along the empty streets, uncommon for midday in the section of the port. He was walking into one of the cantinas and was immediately given the attention of the only patron. Sitting on the table across the small dining room was a muscular woman, bounty hunter by her attire, and about the same age as him. She was pointing a chrome pistol at him while giving a scowl.

"You're late, Snivley." She said.

"You know how it is, Arianna." he replied, a smile on his face knowing she wouldn't shoot. "Gall's port security is outrageous."

"You have no time for excuses. He's awaiting your transmission." she told him, withdrawing her blaster. With that, she let Snivley enter through the back entry.

After traversing through the back area, Snively found the communications room and looked at the data pad, noticing that a line was holding. He tapped on the pad and the line opened, activating the holocom. A hologram of a tall, hooded, dark figure stood there.

"You've finally arrived, Snivley." the figure said. "I was beginning to wonder if you were discovered."

"I can assure you that I'm very meticulous, sir." Snivley responded. "I'm afraid I come bearing troubling news."

"Is that so?"

"I was just informed by my uncle that a Sith Lord is closing in on our dealing. We don't know how close, but this Lord is very tenacious."

After a moment of silence, the figure relied, "This is very troubling."

"I understand, sir."

The figure pulled his hand up and a crimson lightsaber activated in his hand. He said to Snivley, "Need I remind you of the punishments of failure?"

"Of course not." Snivley answered nervously.

"Good." the figure deactivated his lightsaber. "I want this Sith Lord dealt with immediately."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. The Sith I speak of is none other than Lord Grathan."

"The Ghost? Interesting." the figure rubbed his chin. After a moment of thought, he told Snively, "We can no longer communicate at this location. Return to Robotnik and I'll send you further instructions when I relocate. For the time being, stay far away from Gall. Grathan must have spies everywhere."

"Can we trust Arianna?" Snivley asked.

"She is quite useful and she is loyal. I shall have her report to me and when we are ready reconvene, I shall send her to you."

"Understood, sir." Snivley responded. "Do you wish for us to continue to locate our targets?"

"Yes, the sooner we locate them, the sooner we can move forward." the figure said with urgency. "Move fast and find them."

"It will be done, sir." Snively responded, bowing before the transmission cut. After a moment, he took a deep breath and left the room.

Up on the roof of the cantina, Arianna stood as she glanced over the port. She had clipped a jetpack to her back and wore her helmet. Coming up the stairs behind her, Snivley pinched his nose in frustration. Looking over her shoulder, she asked him, "Problems, handsome?"

"Plenty." Snivley responded. "I'm beginning to second guess this entire agreement." He walked up next to her and looked over the port with Arianna and said, "If the Empire found out what we are doing, we'd be publicly executed. I'm beginning to doubt Robotnik's decision to make this agreement."

"Make sure _he_ doesn't hear you say that." Arianna said. "What he could to you would be worst than what the Empire could."

"Yes, I'm incline to agree." Snivley replied. "I am beginning to doubt his commitment to, as he says 'improve the Empire'. He wants us all to gather all this information on all these random people and it doesn't even seem to connect."

"Well, I'm sure it'll lead to something." Arianna said, nuzzling up to Snivley and wrapping her arm around him. "Think about it, if he means what he says, the Empire will bow to our whim. And you and I, well, the magic can return."

Smiling, Snivley said, "That would be very nice. I miss our time together."

"I'm sure." Arianna said slyly. She let him go and walked to the edge of the roof. Looking back at him, she said, "I'll see you later, Sniv." With that, she activated her jetpack and flew off.

Down below, a large green man with antenna ears watch Arianna fly off.

* * *

Grathan's ship stood idle in the protection of asteroids. It was a massive flag ship, a Venator class ship colored in navy blue, mixing in with the background of space, and he had his own personal crew and mercenaries onboard, including his fair share of prisoners in the brig. One of his officers went to collect her as she slept curled up on her bunk. The cell door opened and the officer ordered, "Get up. Grathan wants to speak with you."

"Go away." she groggily replied, covering her head with her arm.

"You can either come quietly or we can drag you out. It's your choice. Remember last time?" he commanded, reminding her the last time she was being difficult, she was shocked with electroguns and dragged out with a leash.

Not wanting to deal the blow to her dignity, she groaned in defeat and slowly woke up. Moving her arm from her head, her pink hair messily fell to the side. She stood up and glared at the officer with her emerald eyes, a look that would make any other person feel a cold chill crawl up their spines.

"You can stop with the looks, Haruno. It doesn't work on me." the officer said. "Today's your lucky day anyway."

"Yippy for me." she replied. "What does he have in mind?"

"Ask him, but he's letting you out."

Not willing to let such a prospect get to her head, she said nothing as they left the brig for Grathan's office. Taking the lift, the arrived at the personal floor of Grathan's office. It was considered to be the brightest room on the entire ship. There was a large window looking out to the darkness of space and the surrounding asteroids. In the center of the room at the bottom of the stairs in front of the lift, there was a table that Grathan was standing before, his back to his guest.

"Welcome, Sakura. I hope you find this much more accommodating than the brig." Grathan said, not turning his back.

Sakura looked at a flag on Grathan's wall next to the lift. It was brown with a blue Mandalorian Mythosaur skull emblem on it. She looked back down towards Grathan and said, "You have no right to own that."

"I have all the right to own what I want, Haruno. Don't test my hospitality. Besides, I think you'll like what I'm about to tell you." Grathan turned to face her and said, "I'll let you out."

"With a collar I assume." Sakura said as the officer directed her down the stairs.

"A collar? No. A job."

"A job?" Sakura asked, shocked that was all it was. "What kind of job?"

"I'm looking for someone and you're going to find them."

"And what make you think I'll take it. I've been in worst prisons than yours."

"I know, but I feel that your payment will be your intensive."

"There's nothing you have I want."

"Oh, is that so?" Grathan asked, walking up to her. "How about information?"

Confused but cautious, Sakura asked, "What information?"


	4. Chapter 4

Robotnik arrived at the Imperial citadel on Ord Mantel, just as he had anticipated. He was greeted by few stormtroopers and an Imperial captain. The captain turned and cheerfully welcomed the him, "Good morning, Dr. Robotnik! I hope your trip was comfortable!"

"Shut up, captain." Robotnik said, not looking at the stunned look on the man's face. He had no time to waste to chat so he continued for the lift to the upper levels of the tower. When it reached his floor, he looked over to see Lord Tirashias with his fellow kinsman Lord Stotas, one of the Dark Brotherhood and head of the industrial sector of the Empire. With them was a short, thin and terrified old man in a gray suit. Robotnik smirked as he glanced down at the old man as he was walking out of the lift, not being noticed by him. He stood to the side as he listen to the two Sith Lords talk the old man down.

"Three years of trying to find an excuse, and that's the best you can come up with?" Tirashias asked the old man. "Your droids failed in their charge to safely transport Uchiha to Dromund Kaas. As a result, the Empire is now looked upon as a laughing stock due to your incompetence. Simply having 'no idea what went wrong' won't cut it, Mann."

"We should have never given you the charge, Gray." Stotas added. "Your pilot droids sent out the message that notified Overwatch to where they were and the ship was shot down. You are responsible for your droids. You are responsible for the boy's death."

"I swear, I haven't the foggiest idea what happened!" Gray Mann pleaded. "My droids never functioned like this before! There must have been a sabotage!"

"Are you insinuating that someone within the Empire, who all had plenty to gain with the capture of the Uchiha boy, would take the time to sabotage your droids?" Tirashias asked. "I highly doubt that."

"What of Robotnik?" Gray asked. "Everyone knows that he was after my position since the very beginning!"

"I hope you have evidence to back that claim, Mann." Robotnik said, gaining Mann's attention. "I'd hate to look even more foolish to make such a claim and have nothing to back that up."

"Robotnik!" Gray snarled.

"I'm afraid Robotnik's right." Stotas said. "We investigated Robotnik ourselves after the incident. We're weary of the quarrel between you two and we had our own investigation that lead to Robotnik being exonerated."

Robotnik said nothing, and though he wasn't surprised that he was indeed investigated, he hadn't the slightest idea when or who did the investigation. As if, and possibly, he was reading Robotnik's mind, Tirashias said, crossing his arms, "For the past three months, our best agent was with Dr. Robotnik on his stronghold of Mobius. Our agent had gone through all of Robotnik's records and found nothing."

"Apologies for the invasion of privacy, doctor. But I can assure you that it was necessary." Stotas told Robotnik.

"I fully understand, my Lord." Robotnik replied, trying to hide his frustration on all fronts. "My duty is to the Empire."

"Your frustration is understandable, no need to hiding." Stotas said, almost amused. As if the doctor would even do anything to two of the most powerful Sith in the Empire. Still, Robotnik remained placid.

Turning back to Gray, Tirashias said, "Since you haven't provided any evidence to support your claim, you have nothing. You are nothing."

"Dr. Robotnik will be taking your place, Mann." Stotas said. Looking up at Robotnik, he said, "Gray Mann is now to be put under your control. You are free to do anything you want to him."

"Anything?" Robotnik asked in anticipation. He waited for this moment for a long time and he was hoping to savor it. He looked down at Gray as the old man looked up at him in utter fear. Robotnik wondered if he should have the old man work as a sewer cleaner, clean the smelting tanks or just use him as a personal slave. After a moment's thought, he just said, "To hell with it." And with one swift clap of his hands, smashed the old man's skull between his hands, a loud cracking noise was heard. As the old man fell to the ground, he let out a gargling groan followed by a loud thud as his body hit the ground.

"Impressive." Tirashias simply said, looking down at the body. He looked back up at Robotnik and said, "Congratulations, doctor. We expect you to take up your new position as head droid manufacturer right away."

"It will be an honor, my Lords." Robotnik said, giving the two Sith a curtsy and a smile. With that, the two Sith left, leaving Robotnik to look down at the body with a satisfied smile on his face.

* * *

 

She agreed. The information Sakura was given by Grathan wasn't much but it was intensive enough for her to take up the job. Giving her a personal room on the bridge floor, she was ordered to suit up and be briefed by her partner for the mission. She had no intention of taking a partner, but if Grathan was going to provide her with the rest of what she wanted to know, she had no choice. He armor, weaponry and jetpack were waiting in her room and she immediately put her gear on.

Everything was in order, her sleeveless armor mesh skin suit, her leather long boots, her pink elbow pads, black knee pads, pink battle skirt and her red armor and black bracers. She reached her red and pink JT-12 jetpack around her back and it clipped on. She holstered her black Westar 35 blasters and grabbed her helmet, all red with pink trim, before walking out.

She opened the door to the meeting room where she was to meet her partner. He was a tall man, looking to be a few years older than her. He was dressed in a blue leather coat with the sleeves rolled up to accommodate the tan pilot gloves he wore. The rest of his attire save his brown boots was all black. His hair was all white that clashed with his pale skin. Sakura thought he looked sickly, not that she was truly concerned. He was just the means to an end. He had his back to her so he didn't notice her right away. After she shuffled a chair out her way, he looked at her and happily greeted her, "Oh hey! You must be my partner!"

"I guess." Sakura said uninterested.

"The name's Jack." he said reaching out his hand. "Jack Frost."

"Sakura." she said, not willing to shake his hand. "What's this job?"

"Right to the point, I respect that." Jack said, not bothered that by her rudeness. In fact, he was still to chipper for her taste. He turned to the controls on the table and activated the hologram, saying, "Well, Grathan has a few people he wants us to track. They are what's left of the former Republic elite guard known as-"

"Overwatch?" Sakura asked, now becoming interested.

"Yeah, you know them?" Jack asked after the profiles came up.

"Know them? They..." Sakura looked over at the profiles. There weren't many. She said, "They saved me and my friends three years ago."

Jack looked back and forth between Sakura and the profiles. He said, "Well, must be awkward, then."

Sakura just gave him an annoyed glance and looked back at the profiles. She asked, "Is this all that's left of them?"

"Yep, someone's been hunting them down and killing them. I originally suspected Talon, but I was shocked to learn who it was."

"Who?"

"An Imperial battle droid builder named Dr. Julian Robotnik."

"A battle droid builder?" Sakura asked. "What does this droid builder want with Overwatch?"

 "I haven't gotten that far yet, but I was able to find out who's still kicking." Jack pulled up some profiles and began reading them off, "We have Lena Oxton, codename Tracer. Strike-Commander Jack Morrison. Engineer Torbjorn Lindholm. Lieutenant Reinhardt Wilhelm. Captain Ana Amari. Professor Mei-Ling Zhou. Genji Shimada. Dr. Angela-"

"Ziegler." Sakura said, cutting him off.

"You know her?"

Sakura said nothing, she just looked at Dr. Ziegler's profile. She thought back during the incursion, when she woke from the shock to that face. The face that told her everything was going to be alright. The face that gave her hope. Despite her thoughts, she told Jack, "Don't worry about it."

"Okay?" Jack slowly responded. "Well, Grathan wants them all alive."

"For the Empire, no doubt."

"No, for his ship." Sakura gave him a confused look. He just looked back at her, shrugged and told her, "Apparently this mission is off the record. No one in the Empire knows who or what we're looking for."

"But Overwatch is on the Empire's top most wanted list."

"But as far as I know, Grathan has no intention on turning them in."

"He's risking his life to protect Overwatch? Why?"

"Dunno. I'm just gonna pick them up, bring them here and collect my pay."

Sakura scoffed, but she was still confused as to why Grathan wanted Overwatch alive. She shouldn't be curious, given her pay, but she was beyond confused. Overwatch are to be captured and turned into the Imperial Correctional Authority, but Grathan wants to keep them on his ship. She knew that there was something going on here.

"By the way, there's one more target that's not Overwatch." Jack said, closing up the other profiles and opened up a main profile. "Grathan wants this former Sith Lord brought in dead or alive. His name is Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?" Sakura gasped. She looked up at the profile of the fallen Sith. Just looking into his eyes brought back memories that she never wanted to remember. She remembered the Forest of Death, the day that her and her team were nearly killed by him. That face will forever haunt her. Her fist tightened as she glared angrily at his image.

"So I take it that it's dead then?" Jack asked, responding to her actions.

"Damn straight." she said through her teeth. "Overwatch can wait. We go after Orochimaru."

"Well, Grathan wants-"

"I don't give a damn what Grathan wants. I want Orochimaru's head." Sakura then turned and left for the lift to the docking bay. Jack closed the profile and casually strolled along, chuckling to himself as he followed Sakura.

* * *

Olivia opened her eyes as Jack's ship came out of hyperspace over Tattooine. Looking out to the desert planet, she said to Jack, "We need to move fast."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"I'm sensing hatred, lots of hatred."

"Maybe Orochimaru's down there." Jack hopefully said.

"It's not him." she said, looking off into the distance. "Someone else is after our target. Someone not of the Force, but someone with enough hatred to what him dead. I can feel their blood lust. It's..." Taking a moment to feel the hatred, she shuttered in ecstasy. She said under her breath, "Intoxicating."

"Maybe we should let them find Orochimaru and do our work for us." Jack joked.

"Though she liked the idea and chuckled, Olivia said, "You know we have a job to do. It's our duty to the Empire."

Jack agreed and continued their descent to the planet below. The ship flew over some settlements and flew towards Beggar's Canyon where Jack slowly landed the ship into. With the exit ramp lowering, Jack and Olivia walked out and looked up into the canyon towards the bright and hot suns. Jack went back to the ship and opened a compartment in the exit frame, revealing a control panel. He pressed some buttons. Atop the ship, a hatched open and several probe droids flew out and up to the planet surface to scout.

In the distance, Olivia heard the roars of Tusken Raiders. Knowing that they saw the ship landing, she knew they would come right for them. Jack came over to tell her the droids would search the planet, scan and listen to the patrons of the settlements. Olivia unclipped her lightsaber and said, "Very good. In the mean time how about we have some fun."

Hearing the Tuskans in the distance, Jack smirked and pulled out his blaster and followed Olivia towards the oncoming herd.


	5. Chapter 5

_Sakura woke to the sound of panic, people screaming and crying, soldiers shouting, beeping and a soothing voice. She focused on the voice like it was a light in the darkness. She slowly opened her eyes to see people standing around her. She saw one of the Mandalorian soldiers from her village talking with a young woman, looking to be in her early twenties in a blue Republic uniform with her blonde hair tied back. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she could tell the soothing voice was coming from the woman. The soldier nodded and took his leave and the woman turned back to the bed Sakura was laying on, noticing that her eyes were open._

_"Oh, you're awake!" Sakura could make out what she said. "You were out for twenty four hours. Can you tell me your name?"_

_"S...Sakura..."_

_"Sakura, I'm Dr. Ziegler. I'll be taking care of you."_

_"What happened?"_

_Dr. Ziegler's expression went from comforting to sorrow and Sakura already knew what that meant. Dr. Ziegler began to brush her fingers through Sakura's hair. Taking a breath, Dr. Ziegler told her, "Sweetheart, I'm sorry but...Mandalore's gone."_

_"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Sakura gasped as she slowly sat up, despite Dr. Ziegler trying to hold her down. She begged with tears threatening to escape her eyes, "What about my parents? Are they here? Where are my friends?"_

_"Sakura, please." Dr. Ziegler pleaded. "You're in shock, you need to rest."_

_"No!" Sakura scream as her tears released. "No, they can't be gone!"_

_She jumped out of the bed but Dr. Ziegler wrapped her arms around Sakura to keep her from over exhausting herself. She pulled Sakura down to sit on the floor and held her tightly as she let Sakura cry out._

_"Mom! Dad! Sasuke!...NARUTO!"_

_Sakura began to sob uncontrollably and Dr. Ziegler cradled her in her arms, stroking her hair. The two stayed like this as Sakura's agonizing cries echoed through the ship's cargohold that housed countless people, lost and hurt from what had happened._

_Now, Sakura was alone._

_\--_

The sound of the ship coming out of hyperspace woke her from her sleep. Despite the nightmarish memory, that was the best sleep Sakura had in a long time. She stirred and looked out the window and saw they were over Tattooine.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead." Jack joked.

"Why are we here?" Sakura asked him.

"Anyone wants to disappear, there's no better place than Tattooine. Plus, I might know of someone who know where Overwatch has gone."

"We're not looking for Overwatch first." Sakura reminded Jack sternly. "We're going after Orochimaru first."

"Sakura, this is our chance to hit two birds with one stone." Jack told her, the chipper in his voice now turned serious. "We'll talk to my contact first then we'll check out the settlements for anyone who might know about Orochimaru."

"Then your contact can wait, damn it!" Sakura argued. "Orochimaru needs to be found!"

"Calm down, will ya?" Jack said, reaching his hand up. "Look, I don't know what Orochimaru did to you to want him dead so badly, but you're gonna have to trust me on this."

"Trust you? I don't even know you! Grathan forced you on me so I can complete this stupid job for him! I can find my own way off of Tattooine without you, you know!"

"Oh I know, but what if Grathan finds out you left me to go on your own?" Jack asked, remaining calm. "You think he'll give you what you want if you abandon the mission?"

Sakura was about to protest when she realized that he was right. She leaves Jack and he could report back to Grathan and Grathan would deny her of her "payment". She was stuck and Jack knew it. As much as she hated to admit it, she had to let him lead the mission.

* * *

Bespin was known for Cloud City, but throughout the passing centuries, due to it's high moisture levels that form thicker and thicker clouds, settlers, smugglers, fugitives and such all gathered to the lower levels of the gas giant's Tibanna clouds, deep into the thickest parts. Some of these settlements and small shanty stations are mostly compiled of scraps and ship parts. One such station sat alone, floating in place in the lowest part of the atmosphere. There was a single ship docked there, a small Imperial carrier shuttle with the Empire's insignia crudely scrapped off. Inside was a young man in raggedy robes and a battle flight suit. He had round glasses over his dark eyes. His silver bangs draped over his the sides of his head while the rest was tied back. He was listening to a message relayed through the radio of the ship before he shut it off and went into the station.

When he reached the upper levels, he looked in one of the rooms to see a man laid out on a dirty old couch. The man was wearing the Imperial officer boots and trousers with a black robe covering his upper body. His hood was up so his features. The young man cleared his throat and called the man's name to rouse him, "Lord Orochimaru?"

The man stirred from his slumber and looked up at the young man before pulling his hood down. Orochimaru's hair flowed out from the hood and he looked up at the young man and asked, "What is it, Kabuto?"

"I just got word from Bastel. Skeeks is dead."

After looking at Kabuto for a moment, Orochimaru sneered and asked, "You woke me up to tell me that?"

"Skeeks had a big mouth, master. He could have revealed our location."

"Skeeks left us on Tattooine, that's all he knew. The only people who knows where we are that desert rat and Bastel, and he's loyal to me." Orochimaru reminded Kabuto. He asked, "Who killed him?"

"I'm afraid Olivia Mann, my lord."

"Ha! Darth Tirashias sent his own apprentice after me? I'm honored!" Orochimaru sarcastically remarked. He stood up from his couch, pointed to it and said, "Look at me! Orochimaru, master of the Dark Arts, a name feared on Korriban, now sleeping on a couch in an abandoned smuggler's station in a miserable gas giant! This is beneath me!"

Orochimaru and Kabuto walked out to the balcony over looking the clouds, illuminated by the nearby sun. Looking out at the clouds, Orochimaru proclaimed, "I should be back on Korriban, training armies of Sith, not choking on this miserable gas! I will not stand for this!"

"As long as we're here master, we're safe." Kabuto said. "We can't even go into the Republic for help."

"I would rather fall into a Rathtar pit before I'd even consider going to the Republic." Orochimaru responded as he tightly gripped the railing. "If we play our cards right, my friend, we will have our rightful place in the Empire back."

"It will be glorious, master." Kabuto smiled.

"Indeed." Orochimaru looked out dreamily. He took in a breath and said, "We will rebuild the Empire, we will force the Dark Brotherhood out and replace it with our own order. The Empire will thrive and conquer the entire galaxy. It will be beautiful."

The two looked out to the clouds, dreaming about the future they hoped for.

* * *

 Robotnik was looking up at his monitor, doing some research. After his clash with Darth Grathan and after the Dark Lord's threats, he wanted to look into the history of this so-called "Ghost". He may have the full support of the Imperial Senate and the Dark Brotherhood of Nine, he was still feeling the sting of his ego being wounded by Grathan and he tried to find anything to dig up on the mysterious Sith. Despite his numerous attempts, he kept hitting road blocks. Files on Grathan were considered classified and that raised some concerned for Robotnik.

"Any news, Dr. Robotnik?" Snivley asked as he walked up from his desk.

"Not yet, Snivley." Robotnik responded in frustration. "This man has so many classified files, it's maddening. How the hell can this be?"

"Unless he has access to the data banks, there's someone trying to hide Grathan's records."

"But who, Snivley? Who?" Robotnik growled. Turning to his desk, he said, "Only the Dark Council and the Dark Brotherhood have access to the data banks and the archives! Grathan is neither, he's just an overpowered foot soldier and yet he has clearance that only a few have!"

"It seems he might have friends in high places." Snivley deduced. "Since only the highest ranks in the Empire have access and he doesn't, he must have people in the Dark Council to secure his records."

Giving Snivley a dumbfounded look, Robotnik said to himself, "Now why didn't I think of that." Taking a second to regain his thoughts, he said, "We can't just simply accuse anyone in the Council of tampering with the records without evidence."

"What if it's someone in the Dark Brotherhood, Dr. Robotnik?" Snivley asked in response to Robotnik's lack of covering every detail.

"Don't be stupid, Snivley. The Dark Brotherhood keep to themselves. They only have a small amount of people close to them and they wouldn't even give them access to the archives."

Hitting a block in their investigation, the two took a moment to gather their thoughts. They realized that they had no way of discovering how Grathan's records were sealed on their own, but giving each other a glance, they realized who did.

The two walked over to their holo-communicator and Snivley punched in the commands. After a moment, their link was connected and the figure that Snivley contacted on Gall appeared.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked.

"We've hit a snag in our investigation of Lord Grathan." Robotnik told him. "We believe that Grathan has someone to seal his records but we have no evidence."

The figure stood in silence, listening to Robotnik. After a moment of silence, the figure reach for his hood and pulled it back, revealing a man with a thin, pointy face, slicked back black spiky hair, fiery Dark Side eyes and what appeared to be pale or gray skin. He said to them, revealing his sharp teeth, "The more time you two waste brings him closer to discovering our plans."

"Forgive us, Lord Pitch, but we've exhausted all of our resources." Snivley said, remaining calm. "It would appear that Grathan has friends in high places that are protecting him. We need more resources."

Pitch nodded and brushed his chin as he looked down. Thinking deeply about this, he smirked and said, "Very well, I will send you aid. However, I have one demand to make."

Both Snivley and Robotnik had to hold back their desire to roll their eyes in frustration. Of course he had a demand in return for aid. Snivley asked him what his demand was and Pitch said, "My new apprentice appears to have a death mark placed on him. I know that the student of Triashias is after him, but so is my enemy."

"The boy? How did he know of Orochimaru?" Robotnik ask.

"I don't know, but I sense that he is in grave danger. I want you to locate him and secure his safety."

"You don't know where he is?" Snivley asked.

"I told him to conceal his location until he was ready. If he's as smart as I know he is, he'll make it difficult to locate him. I'll send you my resource right away, but I still want my student safe."

"It will be done, my Lord." Robotnik said with a curtsy before Pitch cut communications.

* * *

Olivia sat in the middle of the carnage Jack and her created of the Tusken hunting party. Jack was rummaging through their rucksacks as Olivia was meditating, reaching out with the Force, hoping to locate that feeling of hatred she felt earlier. She could feel it near, but didn't know how near. She wanted to find them and see if their hatred was worthy of a challenge. Any hatred or Force energy she felt she wanted to face head on, the thrill of facing someone's anger to see if it rivaled hers. In the past, she sought such traits throughout the galaxy since the first time her master let her loose with very little satisfaction. Most of the ones she fought perished embarrassingly or she let them live a cowards life, threatening them if they were to ever resurface again, she would kill them. Only a few instances had she ever had a worthy challenge, against Sith traitors and fallen Jedi, all of which fell to her blade, save for one.

She remembered him, his pale flesh, black hair, and the same fire in his eyes as her. He was an older man, not as old as her master seemed to be, but she was also still young at the time she faced him, too young to even hold a lightsaber. She had to rely on her power in the Force she had at the time, which were minuscule to what she can do now, but despite that she still drove the man away and running in fear. Her master told her he was no Sith but a fallen Jedi padawan, but his name was unknown. Ever since then, she reached out with the Force to find him. She wanted him to perish under her might for escaping her.

In the midst of her meditation, she felt a strange surge within the Force. She couldn't understand it, but she knew it was important. There was something calling to her in the Force, something about Robotnik. He kept seeing his face in her vision. He was standing in a room on his ship with his nephew Snivley talking with a tall hooded man. She couldn't see the man's face, but a part of her hoped it was the Jedi she was seeking. If that were the case, she knew that Jack would love to catch Robotnik in a lie, but she would feel the frustration of picking a traitor as the new architect for the droid army. However, she didn't know the full details of this vision so she just put it aside as a daydream. It's not the first time such a thing has happened to her and she wasn't going to send Imperial authorities on a wild bantha chase. If something comes of this, she'll handle it herself.

She brought her thoughts back to locating Orochimaru. Her instincts told her that he was on Tattooine, but he was no longer. That was already clear to her, but she needed to know where he was. She had to reach out and look to the past, using the energy of the planet to follow the steps he took while he was here. She could feel his path starting in Anchorhead, then leading into the desert. She could feel him feeding off of the animals in the wastelands, stopping at small settlements and farms into the unknown. She lost the connection, which only means that it was at that point that he began conceal his presence.

Opening her eyes, she looked up at Jack and asked him, "Have you heard back from your probe droids?"

"Not yet." Jack said, tossing an empty sack away. "It's been almost two hours though. I'm getting bored."

Standing, Olivia said, "Lets head back to the ship before this sun kills us both."

Both of them walked away from the gathering of dead bodies to be picked at by desert animals.


	6. Chapter 6

The ship landed on the Great Mesra Plataea, far from any form of civilization. Sakura stepped out of the ship and glanced over the land, looking over the endless desert. She was thankful that her suit and helmet came with a built in cooling system to keep her cool from the hot sun. Jack was opening a compartment to the ship that held two speeder bikes and he pulled his out, letting Sakura pull hers out.

"Follow close by, we don't have far to go." Jack said mounting his bike.

"Does your contact live on a moisture farm or something?" Sakura asked.

"No, better." Jack said, starting his speeder up. "A scrapyard."

The two took off at top speed through the desert. After only ten minutes of racing, they finally reached their destination. The scrapyard was minuscule to say the least, just some old abandoned buildings, some tents and ship and droid scraps scattered about. By the looks of things, it looked completely uninhabitable. Sakura was beginning to seriously wonder about Jack's contact.

"You sure he's here?" she asked.

"Yep, I know it." Jack said. "He's not popular with the locals so he lives out here."

That's when they saw someone sitting on the ground against one of the buildings. Sakura was about to walk to them when Jack stopped her. She told him to let go when he said, "I'll handle this."

"I don't think so, Frost." she warned. "I don't want to stay in this junkyard all day. I'll use my methods to get what we need out of him."

"I'm sure you will, but it won't work. He only responds to nice words. And no offense, but he hates Mandalorians."

At this point, Sakura was now frustrated. She groaned and said, "Listen, we have no time for these games! Orochimaru has had a three year head start and-"

"Sakura." Jack placed his hand on her shoulder. With his hand on her shoulder, Sakura, for some reason, felt a little more calmer. She still wanted to find and kill Orochimaru, but in her calm state, she took a moment to let the feelings seep away. She let him talk, "You need to relax. We'll find Orochimaru, but we also need to find Overwatch too. He might know where they are. Once we take care of him, we'll search the nearby villages for anyone who might have some information. And I know we'll get it."

"How are you so sure?" Sakura asked, suspecting of Jack's conviction.

"It's Tattooine, it's step one for being on the run." Jack said, smiling. Turning back to the person sitting on the ground, he said, "Plus, I know him. He's fragile and broken, but he'll talk to me."

Though skeptical, Sakura thought that if he really did know this person, maybe Jack would have more luck. She moved back to let his hand fall off her shoulder and nodded to let him go. Jack gave a reply nod and turned to walk toward the man.

Coming closer, he could make the image of the man. He was wearing a dark, stained and tarnished flight suit with a leather gas mask. Ripped through his mask, his right arm and left leg of his suit were mechanics, crude and worn down. He was hunched over as he sat on the ground. He looked broken and worn down. Jack slowly walked over to him and knelt down in front of him.

"Tibal?" Jack softly asked. He moved closer and asked again, "Tibal? It's me, Jack." Tibal muttered under his breath and Jack couldn't make out what he said. Jack said, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Master North?" Tibal managed to mutter loudly in a whimpering high pitched voice. Looking up, Tibal asked, "Master North? Where Master North?"

Jack went silent for a moment. He looked down for a moment before looking back up at Tibal and said, "I'm sorry buddy, but Master North isn't here anymore."

"Master North?" Tibal asked again, more scared than before. "Where Master North?"

"He's gone, Tibal." Jack said as he held onto Tibal's shoulders.

"No!" Tibal said as he grabbed Jack's collar. "Master North here!"

"Tibal, please." Jack gripped Tibal's hands and tried to pull him off. He didn't want to be forceful with him due to Tibal being a damaged soul. He told him, "I'm sorry, buddy. He's no longer with us."

"Lies! You lie to Tibal!"

"Tibal, you need to calm down." Jack sternly told Tibal, reaching into his coat.

"No! Tibal want Master North!"

"I'm warning you!"

"Master North Tibal friend! Tibal want Master North! Jedi bring Master North-"

Tibal was cut off when he was blinded by a bright blue light. In Jack's hand was a silver and azure lightsaber hilt, a saberstaff to be more precise, an active blue blade lighting up the spot. Tibal recoils in fear at the sight of the light, shielding his eyes. Jack was about to scold him when a voice from behind stops him.

"Frost, let me handle this." Sakura said, looking down at the two.

"Mandalorian!" Tibal hissed as he looked at Sakura through his fingers. "Mandalorians hurt Tibal! Tibal hate Mandalorians!"

"Get over it, now you're talking to me." Sakura said.

Jack stood up, deactivated his lightsaber and told Sakura, "I told you I'll handle this!"

"And you're doing a great job." Sakura sarcastically replied. She slipped her helmet off and said, "Look, we have no time to waste here. Let me talk to him."

Before he could protest, Sakura forced her way past Jack and knelt down in front of Tibal. He drew back like a wounded animal, hissing at her sight, but she showed no fear. She slowly reached her hand out and he snarled at her. She knew he was to scared to attack so she continued to reach. She gently brushed her hand on Tibal's mask, not wanted to touch the part that was mechanical in fear of hurting him. Though Tibal was still scared, he calmed at her soft touch.

"Tibal, is it?" she asked him. Looking at his injuries, she asked him, "Was it Deathwatch that hurt you? Is that why you hate Mandalorians?"

Tibal slowly reached up and brushed his fingers on her hand. It was clear he wasn't treated right and wanted to feel certain. He nuzzled his face into her hand.

"Mandalorians come to Tibal." he said. "Say mean things. Tibal feel sad. You pretty Mandalorian. You nice Mandalorian."

"That's right, I'm a nice Mandalorian." Sakura smiled at him.

"Well this came out of nowhere." Jack commented, earning a harsh shush from Sakura.

Sakura removed her hand from Tibal's face and asked, "Tibal, were they alone? Did these Mandalorians have a Sith with them?"

"Tibal hate Siths more than Mandalorians!" Tibal cried. "Siths turn Tibal into monster! Siths make Tibal's friends go away!"

"Did you ever see a Sith with long black hair? Tall, very skinny?"

Taking a moment to think, Tibal began to vigorously nod his head and cheered, "Yes! Tall Sith man come to Tibal, say he looking for village! Tibal tell then he leave! Mandalorians come after Sith leave, hurt Tibal!"

"Orochimaru was here!" Sakura said to Jack as she turned to face him. "He must have gone to Mos Eisley! That's the closest village near here!"

"Ask him about Overwatch." Jack replied.

Turning back, Sakura asked, "Tibal, does the name Overwatch mean anything to you?"

After another moment, Tibal nodded and said, "Tibal have friends. After Mandalorians hurt Tibal, Tibal saved. Doctor with wings."

"Dr. Ziegler." Jack said aloud. He knelt down next to Sakura and softly asked, "Tibal, how long ago was all of this?"

Tibal thought again and said, "Tibal count the suns since friends go up to sky. Seventy eight suns."

"Seventy eight suns? Seventy eight days? Two and half months?" Jack asked, Tibal nodding in response. He asked, "You said they went to the sky, did they say where they were going?"

"Tibal remember nice man with big hat say name. Name no make sense. He say name Hot, but say it cold."

"Hot? Do you mean Hoth?" Sakura asked.

"Yes! Tibal hear Hot cold, very cold. Tibal like sun, make Tibal warm. Tibal like warm."

"Well at least we know where Overwatch might be." Jack said to Sakura. He had to give Sakura credit, she got this much out of Tibal. He figured he owed it to her to be sure and asked, "Tibal, this Sith man, you sure this is the guy we're looking for?"

"Tibal never forget face. Sith tall, black lady hair, white skin, eyes like desert lizard."

"That's him." Sakura said. However, the fact that she rubbed her forehead indicated she wasn't entirely satisfied. She said, "That was three months ago. He could be anywhere in the galaxy by now."

"We'll find him." Jack assured her. "We'll ask around Mos Eisley. Someone's bound to know something."

"Right." Sakura replied. However, she had another concern. She didn't want to leave Tibal alone here. She said, "Tibal, we need you to come with us. It's not safe for you here."

"Mandalorian care about Tibal?" he asked sweetly.

"Of course. I want to find the ones who hurt you and make them pay."

Tibal reach up and softly caressed Sakura's cheek, looking at her face. He said to her, "Girl one of two nice Mandalorians. Care for Tibal, like boy with scars."

Sakura tensed up at that last part. She held his hand and asked him, "Boy with scars? Scars on his cheeks?"

"Scars on cheeks, pointy hair like sun, pretty water eyes." Tibal described him. "He have nice voice, make Tibal laugh. Tibal like to laugh, Tibal not laugh since."

"Naruto!" Sakura gasped, looking her balance and landing on her side. Covering her mouth, she muttered to herself, "He's alive."

"You okay?" Jack asked.

Sakura sat back up and asked Tibal, "How long ago was he here?"

"Tibal not remember."

"Please." she begged.

Tibal thought for a moment, but he shook his head and said, "Tibal feel bad. No remember. Too long. Tibal miss Mandalorian. Tibal tell you of two Mandalorians?"

"Two?"

"Yes. One Mandalorian tall, long white hair. Nice, but mean."

"Jiraya." Sakura said in relief. "He's not alone."

"What's going on?" Jack asked.

"I'll tell you later." Sakura said, trying to control herself. She returned to hoping Tibal would come with them, "Will you come with us, Tibal? We'll keep you safe."

"Tibal not safe." he told her. "Mean people follow Tibal. Tibal not want to hurt nice Mandalorian girl."

"I can take care of myself." Sakura chuckled.

"Tibal stay. Jedi, Mandalorian, go."

"If you stay here, you'll be in danger." Jack told him.

"Tibal live long time, Tibal take care of Tibal."

"Tibal." Sakura muttered, not wanting to leave him, but she could tell that it wasn't easy for him to budge from this spot. Smiling in defeat, she gave him one more caress on his cheek as she stood up.

Jack stood up with her and the two left Tibal. Jack looked to her and said, "Sorry, I usually don't see Mandalorians as tender types."

"I have my ways." Sakura said as she slipped on her helmet. She looked to him and said, "We have somethings to talk about."

"If you're wondering how I came to know Tibal, I-"

"No. The lightsaber."

"Oh, that." Jack slowed down for a bit, but he told her, "Let's discuss this over something to eat first. I'm starving."

* * *

 The two arrive at Mos Eisley where they walk into a cantina and order their food and had their drinks prepared. Sakura placed her helmet on the table and said, "Alright, start talking."

Jack looked at her as he took a sip of his drink. After putting his cup down and clearing his throat, he told her, "I was once a Jedi. The master Tibal was asking for was mine, Master North. It was well around four years ago we were exploring Wild Space when we came across an uncharted planet. We touched down and found that there was no sign of our form of technology anywhere. No speeds, no ships, not even blasters. We landed because we felt a dark presence on the planet and went to look."

"Did you find out who it was?" Sakura asked.

"We did. A fallen Jedi who turned to the Dark Side named Pitch Black. We fought him, tried to protect the planet, but the Empire found us and eradicated the planet surface with bombardment. The people didn't stand a chance."

"I know what that's like." Sakura somberly said, taking a sip of her drink. She remembered what happened three years ago. Placing her glass on the table, she told him, "I'm sure you've heard what the Empire had done to my home."

"I have." Jack placed his hand on hers and said, "Sakura, I didn't want to bring it up so I wouldn't open old wounds, but I just want to say that I'm sorry what happened."

"Thank you." she smiled. "It means a lot actually."

Jack looked at the table as he somberly continued, "During the chaos, Master North disappeared. He's now counted as K.I.A.. I returned to Coruscant in shame and was excommunicated."

"Why?" Sakura asked, a hint of anger in her voice. "What happened wasn't your fault. The Empire are nothing but tricksters."

"I was exiled because I broke the Jedi code." Jack said, resting his chin on his hands. He told her, "One night I was out and I felt someone in pain. I followed it and found a girl, locked in her room and away from the world around her. She was alone."

"Why?"

"She had a power, like what I have." Jack reached his hand out and blue sparkles came up from his fingers. The sparkles came together and made a snowball. It landed in his hand and he crushed it, turning it into frost.

"I get it now." Sakura chuckled. Jack looked at her and she said, "Your name, 'Frost'. It also makes sense that you can stay cool here on Tattooine."

"Well, that's my power in the Force." Jack said. Returning to his story, he said, "She had no control over her powers so her family locked her away. I found her and I saw that look on her face. I never felt so sorry for someone in my life. I tried my best to make her happy, that was my biggest flaw."

"You fell in love with her."

"That's right." Jack leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath. He paused before continuing, "We loved and treasured each other, we didn't want to let go. I even told her I would give up the Jedi for her."

"Is that what happened?"

"Kind of. When the Republic came to aid the survivors, she along with her sister and her sister's fiance were some of the survivors. When we boarded, I held her in my arms, and I didn't want to let go." Jack looked at his hands and softly balled them up. Taking a breath, he told her, "The Jedi council was there and they saw us, and they could sense my love for her. We got back to Coruscant and they ordered us to be separated. They took her away and the Jedi exiled me."

Sakura could all be feel the pain in his words. She always thought the Jedi code of no attachments was a ridiculous notion and this proved it right. She softly said, "Frost...Jack, I'm sorry."

Not looking at her, just opening up his palms, he told her, "It was bound to happen. After I met her, I was already beginning to question my commitment to the Jedi. In the end, I chose her only to lose her anyway."

"How did you end up with Grathan?" Sakura asked.

Giving a chuckle and crossing his arms, he said, "I was on Nar Shaddaa when I came across this Mandalorian woman who claimed she could help me find Elsa. I ended up in Grathan's service. He told me he would help me find her if I did this job for him."

"That's how he got me." Sakura said, leaning on the table. "I didn't know how much to believe him, but when Tibal mentioned that boy, I can say I'm a believer."

"Trying to find your fellow Mandalorians?" Jack joked.

Sakura chuckled and said, "Not quite. Most of the people I knew are dead. But, there was this boy I knew in my childhood, the Hokage's son Naruto. We were an item, but I thought he died during the incursion of Mandalore. I was holding on to a hope that he'd still be alive, but Grathan said he was. I let my emotions get the better of me and took the job. Now that Tibal mentioned Naruto, I'm convinced he's alive."

"And your payment is the location of Naruto?"

"Exactly." Sakura said, looking up while their food was being served. After the waiter left, she said, "I don't care what it takes, I'll do anything to see Naruto again. He's all I've got left."

"Well, I hope you find him." Jack said, holding up his glass for a toast.

"And I hope you find, Elsa was it?" Sakura asked as she raised her glass. They were about to toast when Jack dropped his glass on the table. She asked, "Frost?"

Jack's body tensed when I felt a disturbance in the Force. Images flashed in his mind, images of Tibal collecting scraps in his yard then swiftly looking up, then he saw a crimson lightsaber waving about. He knew what it meant.

"Tibal!"


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura and Jack raced through the desert back to Tibal's scrapyard. Jack knew that Tibal was in danger, reinforcing Sakura's desire to bring him with them earlier. They both reached Tibal's yard as the suns were setting. Despite it being a scrapyard, there were signs of a struggle, moisture vaporators destroyed and smoking, droids dismantled, and the buildings smoking. Jack and Sakura jumped off their bikes and began to search the yard for Tibal.

"Tibal!" Jack called out. "Tibal, where are you!"

"Frost!" Sakura called out. Jack followed her voice towards the spot they left him at earlier and that's where he saw them, Sakura sitting on the ground with Tibal in her arms. She told him, "I found him like this."

Tibal had several lacerations all over his body, his organic limbs were severed leaving only his mechanical ones, but even those weren't spared for they were smashed and dismantled. He was breathing heavily. Jack, in complete and utter shock, knelt down next to them. Sakura held him close to comfort him.

"Oh, Tibal." Jack moaned. "Who did this to you?"

"Tibal do good." Tibal wheezed. "Tibal not tell where friends are."

"Hang on, Tibal." Jack begged.

"Frost, he's not going to make it." Sakura told him. "He's in shock and lost a lot of blood."

Both looked at him as Tibal began to speak again, "Tibal not afraid. Tibal have friends. Care about Tibal."

"That's right, Tibal. We care about you." Jack said, placing his hand on Tibal's shoulder. "We're gonna get who did this."

"That's right." Sakura added. "We'll find who did this and make them pay for you."

Tibal coughed through his mask, then he went limp in Sakura's arms. Jack was about to call his name, but knew it would do no good. Both knew he was gone. Sakura only held him tighter and rubbed his head. Through her helmet, she began to sob.

Lowering his head in grief, Jack also began to reach out with the force, trying to get a hint of what happened here. He needed to know who it was that did this to poor Tibal. He could sense the Dark Side, but he couldn't seen the wielder. Any Sith would do this, but he could sense sadism, cruelty and a lust for horrible violence, more than he had ever felt from one person. He immediately knew who it was.

Looking up as Sakura lowered Tibal's body, Jack said, "We need to go, now."

Looking up at him, Sakura said, "We need to bury him."

"Sakura, we're in grave danger. We need to leave now." Jack stood up and marched for his bike.

Though she wanted to stay and bury Tibal, Jack was Sakura's ride off of Tattooine so she knew she had to follow him. She gave Tibal one last glace and stood up to follow Jack.

They reached their ship right before dark, Jack telling them to leave the bikes. He then swiftly turned around and looked off into the horizon with a look of dread.

"Sakura, get the ship airborne, now." Jack said, pulling out his saberstaff.

Sakura was confused until she looked to where he was look and heard a speeder heading their way. It was coming closer and closer, right to the point the dust trail was growing. She turned on her rangefinder to zoom in on the approaching speeder.

The driver was none other than Imperial Agent Jack with Olivia riding on the back of their Bloodfin.

"Go, now!" Jack ordered as he activated his saberstaff and charge the oncoming pair.

Sakura rushed inside through the rear entrance of the ship, closing the ramp. She jumped into the cockpit and turned it on and looked out the window to see the speeder was closing in and not slowing down. She knew what was going to happen and had to move fast. Switching the ship on, she turned on the deflector shield first before anything. She looked out to see Olivia fly off and Jack leap out of his seat. She then braced for impact and the speeder slammed into the side of the ship. Thankfully the shield kept the hull from being damaged. She began to work the controls for the ship to take off.

Olivia was in the air from leaping off of the speeder and she dove towards Frost. He leaped at her and spun his saberstaff as he flew towards her. She pulled out her lightsaber and blocked his attack, causing them to ricochet off of each other. Both flipped back and landed on their feet before glancing at each other. Frost spun his saberstaff as he charged Olivia and she did a few back flips to put some space between her and him. She reengaged him in a duel where she had the acrobatic advantage over him. She leaped about and somersaulted about to maneuver around him. He came close multiple times, but he managed to block each strike, but she was still far to formidable for him.

Sakura was finally able to get the ship to take off, ignoring all the blaster fire Jack was assaulting the ship with. The ship lifted off the ground and over a dozen feet in the air when she opened the rear ramp. She called out, "Frost, let's go!"

Frost looked up to see the ship flying slowly above him and Olivia. Forming an ice blast in his hand, he leaped up and threw the ice blast at Olivia's right foot, stopping her from following him. He landed on the ramp and ran inside to the cockpit. He sat in his seat and demanded, "Get us into hyperspace!"

"We're not even out of the atmos-"

"Just do it!" Frost then pressed the throttle and the ship picked up speed, leaving Jack and Olivia back on the planet before making its jump to hyperspace.

With one strong tug on her leg, Olivia broke the ice that Frost used to pin her down with and deactivated her lightsaber as she looked up at the sunset where Frost and Sakura flew off towards.

Back with Sakura and Jack, Sakura brought the ship out of hyperspace before they blindly crashed into a moon or star. She pulled her helmet off and demanded, "Frost, what the hell was that all about?"

"Do you not know who that was?" Jack asked. "That was the Empire's best! That was Olivia Mann!"

"Olivia Mann? The Sith Princess?"

 "That's right." Jack took a breath and brushed his over is hair, leaned back and covered his eyes. "We're in over our heads. If they find us, we're dead."

"Frost." Sakura gasped. "Did you forget about Elsa? Our reward if we give up now? Grathan has what we need."

"What good am I to Elsa dead, huh?" Jack asked, much more aggressive than ever. "What good are you to Naruto dead?"

Sakura heard the stories of Olivia Mann, that she wasn't as powerful as her master, but she had a sense of cruelty that would have put Tirashias to shame. Thinking back, she remembered what happened to Tibal. Mann was responisble and she knew it. Tibal was damaged and broken soul and she inflicted so much pain on him that Sakura wouldn't wish on her worst enemies. Mann even threw salt on the already festering wound by cutting of his remaining limbs. Tibal was practically harmless and she killed him anyway.

If she could do that to someone who wouldn't fight back, just imagine what she could do to someone who angered her.

"Maybe you're right." Sakura contemplated. "I mean, I know Naruto's alive. He's out there somewhere, and I know I can find him."

"And I can feel Elsa." Jack said, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. "She's calling to me."

Sakura looked  to him, a sad smile on her face. She told him, "Let's work together to find them."

"That won't be necessary." a voice entered the ship from behind them. Sakura and Jack swiftly looked behind themselves and saw something they never expected. In their ship was none other than Grathan himself. Jack was about to leap up and attack, but Grathan held his hand out and Jack froze in place. He struggled to get up, but Grathan's grip was too strong. Grathan looked to him and said, "Don't think you can defeat me, Frost. Even as a Jedi Knight, you can't defeat me."

Grathan waved his hand away and Jack gasped as he was released from Grathan's grip. Sakura knew better than to attack him since, even though she killed Force users in the past, she knew that she didn't stand a chance.

Looking at both of them, Grathan asks, "What have you learned so far?"

Calming down, Sakura told him timidly, "We...We discovered that Overwatch might be on Hoth."

"And Orochimaru?"

"We don't know."

Grathan went silent for a moment, looking between the two. He looked to Jack asked, "What happened?"

Jack just looked at him for a moment before telling Grathan, "We just faced Olivia Mann."

"Really?" Grathan asked.

Both Sakura and Jack were expecting him to scold them, possibly even attack them for their failure. Both prepared for the worst when Grathan reached his hand up.

Then, the co-ordinance screen opened up and a system was mapped out. Grathan said, "Take the ship to Corellia. There, I have a droid waiting there for your rewards. Frost, I have a fighter waiting for you. Sakura, you will need this ship for the team I have waiting for you. You take them and find Naruto."

"Wait, you're letting us go?" Jack asked, shocked by Grathan's deal. "We only found a hint of where Overwatch could be! We didn't even find out at thing about Orochimaru's location!"

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Sakura asked.

"You two brought me some inkling of Overwatch, that's enough." Grathan replied. "And I was afraid that you and Mann would possibly cross paths. I had just received word that she was on the hunt for Orochimaru as well. I put you two in grave danger."

Jack and Sakura couldn't believe what they just heard. Grathan was actually showing concern for their safety.

"If she's on the hunt, then I will have to deal with Orochimaru myself. You two are no longer needed."

Before both could ask anything, Grathan then faded away.

Jack and Sakura, awestruck, looked at the co-ordinance that Grathan set. He had set them to Corellia, just as he said, Republic Territory and a safe haven for both of them. They couldn't believe that he was letting them go with what little information they had obtained. Just like that, even though he held Sakura prisoner and dangled Elsa's whereabouts over Jack's head for weeks, he was letting them go.

"Wait a minute." Jack muttered, still processing everything with another thought in mind. "He just did Force Projection. That's very difficult to do."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"You have to be extremely skilled in the Force to do it, but it also drains the user of their life force. I've seen Jedi Masters die as a result."

Sakura shrugged and said, "Maybe he's dead now. Maybe that's why he's letting us go."

"No, I can still sense him. He's still strong, like the technique didn't even phase him."

"What are you thinking?"

Jack looked to Sakura and said, "I think there's more to Grathan than everyone thinks."

"A Jedi spy in the Empire?"

"No, something more. But...it's impossible. He died three years ago."

"Where?"

Jack paused for a moment before saying, "Over Dromund Kaas."

* * *

 

"So the desert rat gave you nothing?" Tirashias asked via hologram on Jack's ship, speaking with Olivia in the passenger bay of the ship.

"I'm afraid not, my lord." Olivia said, speaking to him on her knee. "For a desert dwelling undesirable, he was quite stubborn. However, there was a new development."

"And that was?"

"We encountered a Jedi and a Mandalorian on Tattooine. They got away before we could interrogate them, but the Jedi was swift and I could sense he was distraught over the desert rat's death. They knew each other and I'm certain that the desert rat told the Jedi something."

"What do your instincts tell you, Olivia?"

"They tell me that the Jedi and the Mandalorian were also looking for Orochimaru."

"Any idea on who sent them?"

"I'm afraid not, master. But I'm certain it's within the Empire. The Republic have no idea we're hunting for Orochimaru."

Olivia only looked up to her master, awaiting his orders. He looked down at her and he had this look on his face, she knew it all to well. He was reading her. He asked her, "Are you hiding something, my apprentice?"

She couldn't hide her vision anymore, not that she was afraid of any drawbacks from it, but she didn't want to reveal it until she had evidence. Since Tirashias discovered her emotional block, she had to reveal herself, she could never lie or hide from her master, "Master, I had a vision in the Force. I think Robotnik is up to something."

"A vision, you say?" Tiraishas asked with his interest peeked. "What about this vision?"

"I see him and his nephew speaking to a hooded man. I never see his face."

"Do you think it is Orochimaru?"

"I don't know, but I don't think so. I sense the Dark Side from this man, but he's too powerful to be Orochimaru."

"Interesting. Our inquiry on Robotnik was to see if he had anything to do with the failure of the Mandalorian incursion or the death of Sasuke Uchiha. He was cleared but that doesn't mean he's not guilty of treasonous affairs." Tirashias stood straight up and asked, "Have you any information at all about Orochimaru?"

"Jack and I are heading to an outlaw space station. Dender told me that if this trip to Tattooine doesn't pan out, there maybe someone on this station who might know something."

"Follow through with this lead. Focus on Orochimaru." Tirashias ordered. "We will deal with Robotnik. May the Force be with you, Olivia."

"And with you, master." Olivia bowed as the communications ended.


	8. Chapter 8

Wenzel Outpost was a seedy Imperial space station that was designed to look luxurious. The main hall was breathtaking, exotic plants planted in topiaries, a waterfall, clean and sleek stairwells, a skylight showing the orbiting planet above, and extravagant tapestries hung from the ceiling. This hall was empty due to the hour, but the only sound outside the waterfall as the sound of a fist impact. An older man, the custodian of the station was forced against the wall of the ledge of the upper level. Recovering, he looked up and saw his attacker. Fist clenched, Jack walked up to him with a threatening glare, Olivia standing behind him to watch them fight. The man drew a blaster, but Jack kicked it out of his hand then proceeded to beat on the man. After he fell to the ground, Jack kicked him in the ribs.

"That's enough, Jack." Olivia said. "You've softened him up enough. Bring him."

They took him to one of the meeting offices in the station. Jack had the man in a headlock and threw him onto the table. He groaned as he recovered and rubbed his neck. Olivia looked down at the man and said to him, "The easy part's over. It's time for the real fun to begin."

"I'm not intimidated by you, Mann!" the man growled, hunched over the table and holding his ribs. "You might have intimidated Skeeks, but you won't scare me!"

"I'm certain, Bastel. Your time in the Imperial Army made you a stronger man, but I have broken stronger men than you." Olivia turned back to Jack and told him amorously, "Why don't you run along and have fun, Jackie?"

"You sure?" Jack asked slyly. "A gentleman should always be in the aid of a beautiful girl."

"Yes, but sometimes a girl needs to have some fun." Olivia planted her lips on Jack's, earning a groan from Bastel. Parting, she told him, "Go have some fun, love."

"Alright." Jack smiled and left.

"Was that really necessary?" Bastel asked.

"Jack and I have a system. Before I torture someone while he's around, he kisses me." she perked up and clasped her hands together, cheering, "It gives me such a warm and fuzzy feeling!"

"Oh, please." Bastel straightened up and told Olivia, "You won't get anything outta me. I left the army because it embraced lies and painted our finest as traitors. Orochimaru was a hero to the Empire. I'll protect him with my life and there's nothing you can do to break me."

"A hero? Really?" Olivia asked, slouching in disbelief. Standing back up, Olivia told him, "Let me tell you about your 'hero'. Orochimaru abandoned his post, he left our men alone in the Leaf Village to be slaughtered by lowly smugglers, all based off of this stupid dream of his. There is no Chosen One, the prophecy has been disproven time and time again. The Skywalker family had vanished and the Uchiha have been slaughtered. We wasted our time, our resources, men we could have used to attack the Republic and now we have become the laughing stock of the galaxy because we couldn't claim the last Uchiha. All because Orochimaru had this stupid dream and thought he envisioned the Chosen One. All our problems start with him, and you are going to tell me where you're hiding him."

Bastel said nothing, only glared at her. He slowly began to stand up, his ribs still hurting.

Olivia held her hand up and lightning shot out from her fingertips. Bastel screamed as it engulfed and he fell backwards onto the table. She yelled at him, "I didn't give you permission to stand up!" Olivia held both hands up and unleashed more lightning onto Bastel, pushing further onto the table and caused him to scream louder. She stopped and leapt onto the table, roaring, "Where is he?"

"Please, no more!" Bastel begged as his body smoked from the lightning.

Bastel's begging went on deaf ears as Olivia threw her hands out again and gave him more powerful shocks. Bastel writhed and screamed as the lightning coursed through him. Olivia kept this up until she felt his life energy weaken. She stopped, throwing her hands out to her side. She listen to Bastel wheeze and hiss his breaths, his body smoking more. She reached her hand out and Bastel lifted up from the table and flew into her grip, his throat in her hand. She looked down at him in disgust and he looked up at her in pain.

"Where?"

After a moment's pause, he managed to gasp, "Bespin."

Olivia smirked and said, "Thank you, Bastel. You've been a big help." Then a massive spark flared out from her hand, engulfing his entire head. His final movement was his arms flailing out before his body twitched. With the top of his neck covered in smoke, she threw his limp body onto the table.

* * *

 

 Grathan walked into his meeting room where a tall woman was waiting. She had long purple hair, tied into a ponytail, her skin was blue and eyes gold. She wore a leather battle suit, mostly black with red over her midriff, a grappling gauntlet on her left arm and her right sleeve rolled up to reveal her arm to be tattooed. She had a sniper's headgear over her brow. Grathan stood before her and asked, "Did Haruno and Frost arrive on Corellia without issue?"

"They did." the woman answered. "They collected their rewards and went their separate ways."

"Very good, Lacroix." Grathan said. He began to work on the panel on the meeting table, but he stalled and said, "We have company."

The door to the meeting room hissed opened and a tall hooded masked man growled, "Grathan, you slime!" He pointed at the woman with a clawed glove and said, "You had no right to take Widowmaker from my command! She's a member of Talon, not some mercenary for you to hire on a whim!"

Grathan, not looking at the man, turned and told him, "I requested Amelie's assistance through the Brotherhood themselves. It's all legit, if you want to check for yourself, Reyes."

"You're damn straight I will! And it's Reaper to the likes of you, bastard!" the man snarled as he stormed up to Grathan. Reaching under his coat, he pulled out a large blaster and said, "I'll teach you not to make a fool out of me!"

"Gabriel, you're acting like a fool." Widowmaker told Reaper. "It's all legit and once my term here is over, I'll return back to Talon."

"You stay out of this!" Reaper shouted at Widowmaker. Turning back to Grathan, he said, "You better hope that helmet is blaster proof."

Before Reaper pulled the trigger,Grathan punched him in the stomach. In the punch, Grathan put his power into it, causing Reaper to fly towards the wall next to the door. He hit it and slid to the ground. Reaching around and massaging his back, Reaper growled under his mask.

His attention when to a foot that stepped through the door. He looked up to see a woman, by the looks of her figure through her leather armor and robes, hooded and her face covered in a metallic silver mask that only had the silhouette of eye features and a nose piece.

“Commader Reyes, I’m certain you know of my wife here.” Grathan said, introducing the woman. “Lady Grathan, this is Gabriel Reyes. He was just leaving, right commander?”

Reaper said nothing, just gave Grathan a glare through his mask as he slowly stood up, his back still sore. Lady Grathan stood aside as he left, he looked to her and muttered a farewell.

The Grathans were at an observation deck as they watched Reaper’s ship fly off. Grathan turned to his wife and asked, “Has there been any word on Orochimaru yet?”

“Nothing as of yet, but our scouts believe they’re closing in.” Lady Grathan responded. “What they were able to find was that some Outer Rim smugglers may have brought him to Bespin. There is also word that Olivia Mann is hunting him.”

“Then she’s one step ahead of us. He’ll find his way out of her grip, then we move two steps ahead of her.” Grathan pressed the comlink on the panel of the deck and ordered, “Set course for Jakku, captain.” He turned back to his wife and said, “Don’t worry, my love. He will pay for what he has done to us.” Grathan reached over and held his wife’s hand.

* * *

 

 The city monorail let out at Coronet City with Sakura exiting the train. She was surprised that she didn’t attract any attention with her Mandalorian armor, but that could just be because she heard that some of the survivors of the incursion came here to find bounty hunting jobs so Mandalorians were probably commonplace here. She looked about the city as she waited for her contact.

“Well, you grew since I last saw you.” someone from behind her. Sakura turned to see another Mandalorian, a woman by her figure. She had purple armor that was weathered and scratched. Her suit was violet and sleeveless, showing off her toned arms. The woman gripped Sakura’s biceps and commented, “At least you’re not as scrawny as you use to be.”

Pulling her arm away, a dumbfounded and confused Sakura asked, “Excuse me but who the hell are you?”

“You mean you don’t recognize me?” the woman asked, then pulled her helmet off, revealing herself to be a smirking Temari and said, “Concordia, three years ago? The Empire destroyed our home?”

“Temari!” Sakura cheered. She pulled her helmet off and wrapped her arm around Temari. “It’s been too long!”

“Yeah, since the Republic said ‘Screw you, you’re on your own’.” Temari held Sakura. “How you been?”

“Been better, you?”

“Great, now that you’re here. The bands’ all back together.”

Sakura gave her a sad smile and commented, “I really wish it was.”

“Well, we got you here now. Shikamaru and I stuck together while my brothers went to gather as many Mandalorians and bring us back together. We just found Naruto and-”

“Naruto’s here?” Sakura gasped.

“Yeah. Didn’t the boss tell you he was here?”

“No! He told me that we were going to look for him!”

“Well, I’ve been here all along.”

Time slowed down and Sakura’s heart stopped when she heard that voice. The world turned black all around her. She hadn’t heard his voice in so long and she had longed to here it. She turned to look behind her and the world returned to normal when she saw him. Black suit, orange armor, his helmet in hand and his smile radiant. Her emerald eyes locked with his sapphire. Her body became weak and her helmet slipped from her grip, hitting the ground with a loud clang. She moved to him, her arms reaching out for him. She reached him and they wrapped their arms around each other. She wanted to cry, but she was stronger than that. Finally, after all these years, Sakura and Naruto were back together again.


	9. Chapter 9

    The sun was set and the moisture from the clouds caused it to rain down onto Orochimaru’s hideout. This caused the anti-fog fans to start to blow and divert the mist away from the station so it wouldn’t blind him and Kabuto. Kabuto was maintaining the computer to make sure all the fans were working correctly. Orochimaru was laying down on his couch, contemplating. As Kabuto worked the computer, the alarm went off. He looked to one of the other monitors and saw that two small ships were closing in on their location.

    Outside, two Interceptor TIE Fighters were homing on on the station. They were piloted by Jack and Olivia. Jack fired on the hull of the station, causing the two inside to tumble. Olivia fired on their ship, causing it to burst and start to descend away from the platform.

    In her cockpit, Olivia laughed to herself and said, “There! Now you’ve got nowhere to go!”

    With Olivia turning back around to the station, she fired with Jack back on the hull of the station. Orochimaru was running down to the computer room when the impacted caused him to tumble down the ramp to the landing. He looked up to see Kabuto struggling to stand. He rolled off the landing and landed on his feet before Kabuto, his student looking up at him in confusion. He turned and walked out the hatch to the outside.

    “Lord Orochimaru, don’t!” Kabuto called out.

    Orochimaru stood out at the railing that ran along the station and watched as one of the fighters came towards him. He reached out used the Force to cause the thrusters to burst. The fighter lost control and flew over the station. The hatch opened and Jack leaped out and rolled onto the roof. Orochimaru stormed back inside and pulled Kabuto to his feet, yelling, “Get up! Get out there and kill him!”

    “Jack! Jack, are you okay?” Olivia radioed as Jack recovered from landing.

    “Yeah, I’m fine.” Jack groaned as he sat up. “Cover me from the outside, I’ll get him.”

    “Okay, be careful.” Olivia returned to flying a perimeter around the station.

    Jack began to scale from the top of the station and down to the landing platform. He cautiously looked around, not noticing Kabuto using magnetic boots and gloves to climb on the hull. Hearing Kabuto lunge from the hull, Jack spun around and saw Kabuto flying towards him. The two clashed and rolled back. Jack kneed Kabuto in the stomach as the two rolled the edge of the platform. Jack kneeing him in cause Kabuto to flip off of him and off of the platform into the cloud void. While Jack landed on the lower platform, Kabuto pulled out a grappling bracer and fired a dart to the lower conduit of the station. With the cable attached, Kabuto retracted the bracer and he was pulled onto the conduit.

    Olivia maneuvered her fighter around and locked onto the rear end of the station. It was there that she saw Orochimaru standing there, looking through the window at her through the observation deck.

    “I have you now.” Olivia smirked. She wrapped her finger around the trigger and was ready to squeeze.

    Orochimaru’s eyes widened and he watched as Olivia’s TIE-Fighter burst into flame. He smirked, thinking that he was done with her. However as her cockpit pod rolled in the air, she launched herself out of the hatch towards him. Orochimaru braced himself as she latched herself onto the top rail over the window and she swung into the deck, kicking Orochimaru back. She swung back in and planted her feet onto the ground. Orochimaru rolled backwards before jumping back to his feet.

    Olivia pulled her lightsaber out and the blade hissed. Smirking at him, Olivia told Orochimaru, “Pity you don’t have your lightsaber. I wanted a challenge.”

    Orochimaru reached behind himself, towards a small hole in the floor. Something flew up from hole. It was a large, glassy, blue sword.

    “What the hell is that?” she asked.

    “You forget your lessons, young Olivia.” Orochimaru smirked. “With enough kyber crystals, a Sith can forge their own sword to combat against a lightsaber.”

    “Where did you even get enough crystals to make that?”

    “It was my reward for eradicating the Uchiha clan.” Orochimaru spun his sword in his hand and took a stance. “The crystals to their lightsabers served me well in my experiment.”

    Olivia charged him and gave him a strike. Sure enough, the kyber blade was strong enough to hold her back. Knowing that he succeeded, Orochimaru smirk widened and he forced her off. This time he went on the offense and he began to put more strength into his strikes. Olivia’s cockiness was slowly fading, she was not expecting him to put up such a fight with such a weapon. She tried to fight back, but he was too fast for her. The only thing she could do was continue to block his strikes and wait for an opening.

    Jack heard the fight and ran up the ramp to the observation deck. As he was about to enter the station, Kabuto reappeared and blocked him.

    “You just don’t give up, do you?” Jack asked as he held his fists up. He threw a punch, but Kabuto blocked him, pointed two finger on his right hand and gave Jack a strong poke to the ribs. Kabuto used the Force in the poke so Jack had the wind knocked out of him. Kabuto then punched Jack in the face then in the stomach. Jack buckled over and began to roll down the ramp. A panel in the ramp gave out and Jack’s legs fell through. Jack gripped the edges of the ramp so he wouldn’t fall into the cloudy abyss.

    Jack began to pull himself up, but Kabuto placed his foot on his shoulder and pushed down. Jack struggled to pull himself up, but Kabuto taunted him, “Go ahead, struggle. It only satisfies me more.”

    Orochimaru and Olivia brought their fight to the roof of the station. Even through the rain, Orochimaru still kept up a better fight. She blocked his strike and he pressed his blade down onto hers, pushing their blades towards her face. She put all her strength into keeping their blades back and he was starting to struggle to keep his strength up, but that didn’t stop him. He stomped his foot on her ankle and she stumbled back. With her back to him, he bashed the pommel of his sword to the back of her head. With a shriek of pain, she fell forward and her lightsaber flew from her hand into a hole in the roof into the station.

    “I expected more from Darth Tirashias’ apprentice.” Orochimaru mocked. “If I was your master, you’d be a stronger and smarter fighter.”

    Olivia rolled over and lightning fired from her fingers, but Orochimaru held his sword up to block it. The sword also fired the lightning back at her, and it felt stronger that what she released. She screamed in agony as she was engulfed in lightning.

    “Liv!” Jack screamed as he head Olivia screamed in the distance.

    “Shut up.” Kabuto growled as he continued to press down on Jack’s shoulder.

    Jack looked up then raised his fist up between Kabuto’s legs. Kabuto howled in pain and cupped his sensitive area as he fell over. Jack climbed up and grabbed Kabuto. Kabuto and him struggled, but since Kabuto was in excruciating pain, Jack was stronger and was able to pull Kabuto into the hole head first and into the abyss. Jack turned and began to run up the ramp to find Olivia.

    Orochimaru stood over Olivia as she writhed in pain.

    “This blade can also deflect such energy, amplifying the power by triple.” Orochimaru chuckled. “Pupil of the most powerful Sith Lord and you couldn’t even defeat me.”

    Olivia cried out in response as she tried to get to her feet. Orochimaru kicked her in the ribs and she fell back down.

    “Pathetic! You call yourself a Sith? You’re swamped with fear!” He pointed his blade at himself and said, “I should be the true ruler of the Empire! The Dark Brotherhood are so full of pride and they lost sight of the big picture! I know the truth! That’s why they want me dead!”

    “You…”Olivia coughed. “You lied to us…There…There was no Chosen One…”

    “Is that what Tirashias told you? To justify wanting to kill me?” Orochimaru shove the point of his blade in her face and told her, “From the very beginning, they took credit for all my hard work! I watched the boy all his life! I watched him grow stronger! I planted the seed of the Dark Side in his heart! They told the Empire it was all them! They stole my glory and they blame me for his death! If it wasn’t for your father’s faulty droids, he’d still be alive and I’d be training him!”

    Olivia supported herself by her arms and looked up at him, telling him, “You’re nothing but a lowly acolyte. You deserve no glory.”

    “If I’m a lowly acolyte, then how did I defeat you?” Orochimaru raised his blade and was about to strike.

    A blaster rang out and the sword flew out of his hand. Jack blasted the sword out Orochimaru hand and continued to fire at the Sith. Orochimaru dodged each blast and leaped up. Jack had him locked in midair, but a small fighter flew under Orochimaru and he landed on the wing. Olivia and Jack watch him fly away, eyes widened and mouths open as they watched him get away.

    “No!” Olivia screamed as she stood up, supporting herself against the communications tower. “No, you can’t get away!”

    Jack ran over and held her up, the two of them looking into the distance where Orochimaru flew off. They stood there in each others arms, slowly accepting defeat.


	10. Chapter 10

    Far from Corellia, the Mandalorians made camp on a small moon in the Outer Rim. It was a simple planet, mostly water with small artificial islands that looked to been made to be personal settlements but were, for some reason, abandoned. While Shikamaru and Temari took the shuttle that Grathan gave Sakura, she flew to the moon with Naruto in a ship she missed almost as much as she missed him. She had many wonderful memories from her younger years in this ship, his grandfather’s ship. It’s a Firespray, passed down through his family line for many generations.

    After she was helping Temari and Shikamaru set up a base camp in the structure built into the island, Sakura went to the Firespray to see Naruto sitting in the cargo hold. He looked deep in thought, but not in a positive way. The serious look on his face sent a chill up Sakura’s spine. The last time she saw him make a face like that was when Mandalore was destroyed. It was the last thing she saw before they were separated. He left with Jiraiya and she was sent to Coruscant with what few survivors were left from the planet.

    She needed to speak with him.

    Walking into the ship, she muttered to him, “Are you okay?”

    Looking up at her, he said, “Hm? Oh, sorry! Yeah, I’m fine.”

    It may have been three years since she saw him, but she knew when he was lying. She told him, “Naruto, tell me what’s on your mind.”

    Naruto flashed her a small smile and took a breath in defeat. She was still the Sakura he knew all those years ago. He reached out and held her hand so he could direct her to sit next to him. He wrapped his arm around her and held her close, rubbing her shoulder and she rested her cheek on his shoulder. He told her, “I’m sorry. I just got a lot on my mind.”

    “Like?”

    “All this. Being back together with you, Shikamaru, Temari. It takes me back.”

    “To _that_ day?”

    “To better times. I miss my mom and dad, you know?”

    “I do.” Sakura’s words were filled with pain. Just like him, she lost her parents to the Empire.

    Groaning, Naruto said, “Damn it. I’m sorry, Sakura.”

    “No, no! It’s okay.” She held his hand and told her, “I’m glad you’re back with me.”

    “Sakura,” Naruto looked down into her eyes and asked, “what happened to you after we separated?”

    Sakura took a breath and smiled. She had tale to tell him, “After the Republic told us to be left to our own devices, your grandmother took me in. She was strict, but she took good care of me. She trained me in the old Mandalorian ways. She trained me for three years until about two and a half months ago when she told me to go out into the galaxy. She told me to make terror of myself.” Both her and Naruto chuckled at that. “But, I needed to find you.”

    Naruto clenched his jaw and softly nodded. He told her, “Sakura, I’m sorry for leaving you like that three years ago. Gramps said I needed to begin training and we needed to leave Coruscant right away. I wanted to say bye, but he ordered me to leave.”

    “I understand.” She nuzzled into him and said, “We’re back together and that’s all that matters.” Thinking of two other important people, she sadly looked off and said, “I just wish Sasuke and Hinata were with us.”

    “Huh? Wait, he didn’t tell you?” Naruto asked.

    Before anyone could say anything, Temari entered the ship and said, “Hey lovebirds, they’re here.”

    “Oh, good!” Naruto smiled and stood up with Sakura. They exited the ship and Naruto looked to the sky, looking out to the approaching ship in the distance. He leaned to Sakura and asked, “Does that ship look familiar?”

    It was a long distance away, but Sakura tried to focus in the ship. As it got closer, it became clearer and she felt her heart drop. The last time she saw that ship, it was flying her away from the armada of Star Destroyers. She gasped, “Is that..the Outrider?”

    The familiar YT-2400 light freighter that saved her and friends years ago came flying over the water and onto the dock. It lowered with it’s landing gear operating. The ramp extended to the ground and the three famous smuggler pilots came out.

    She hated to admit it, but it was good to see the Eds again, though except Double D, they looked worst for wear. Ed’s clothes were dirtier and more raggedy and Eddy just let a light unattractive scruff grace his face.

    “Well, well, look who it is.” Eddy commented towards Sakura. “Long time, no see, pinkie.”

    Always hating that name when they met three years ago, Sakura glared him down.

    “Eddy, don’t be rude.” Double D corrected Eddy. He walked up to Sakura and the two shook hands, Double D saying, “It’s good to see you’re doing okay, Sakura.”

    “You look great, Double D.” Sakura smiled.

    “Sakura!” Ed cheered as he ran over and picked her up in a bear hug.

    Trying to politely ignore his foul odor, Sakura smiled and struggled, “N-Nice to see you to, Ed.”

    “Alright, alright, enough’s enough.” Shikamaru said as he broke up the reunion. He turned to Eddy and asked, “Are they with you?”

    “Yeah, yeah.” Eddy looked into the Outrider and called out, “Hey, get your butts out here!”

    Two figures came out of the ship and joined the group. Sakura didn’t know who the woman was, but she could tell by build and height, the man was Grathan, but he wasn’t wearing his Sith armor. He was instead wearing navy beskar armor and a Mandalorian helmet. He had gray tabards going over both shoulders and long kilt under his belt. He almost looked like a Jedi.

    Confused, Sakura looked over to the woman and she was almost the same except her armor was purple and tabarbs were white. What immediately caught her attention was the insignia on her tabard. She recognized it, and couldn’t believe it. It was the insignia of the Hyuuga clan. Looking over to Grathan, she looked at his tabard again and her heart skipped a beat. On his tabard was the insignia of the Uchiha clan.

    Looking up at both of them, Sakura muttered, “Sasuke? Hinata?”

    Both figures removed their helmets and there stood Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga, both believed to have long been dead. But here they are, standing strong.

    Upon realizing that this was real, Sakura gave them a determined smile.

    Sasuke looked around the group and said, “It’s time to put our plan into action.”


End file.
